1. Technical Field
This invention relates generally to battery chargers, and more specifically to battery chargers capable of being mounted both vertically and horizontally having displays.
2. Background Art
People today use electronic devices like pagers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and cellular telephones all the time. These devices derive their portability from rechargeable batteries. Once a battery is fully charged, the accompanying device can be used without wires for several hours. When the stored energy in the battery is depleted, it must be recharged prior to further use.
A very popular way of charging devices is by way of a desktop charger. An example of such a charger may be found in U.S. Pat. No. D427966, entitled xe2x80x9cTwo pocket desktop chargerxe2x80x9d, issued Jul. 7, 2000. This type of desktop charger may include two pockets: a first pocket for a device, like a cellular phone, with a battery coupled thereto; and a second pocket for a spare battery. In the case of a cellular phone, when the attached battery dies, the user simply inserts the phone/battery combination into the pocket and leaves it for a while. After some amount of time, generally 2-4 hours, the user removes the fully charged phone for use.
Some desktop charger manufacturers have included displays and status indicators that notify the user when the battery is fully charged. These displays take on differing forms, including light emitting diodes (LEDs), liquid crystal displays (LCSs), and audible alarms. Examples of chargers having displays include U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,078,871, 5,726,555, and 4,396,881.
For industrial users, single pocket chargers often prove to be inefficient. For example, police and fire departments often have several dozen radios in use. Using single pocket chargers is inefficient, as a very large desk space is required to accommodate such a large number of chargers. Further, as desk space becomes scarce, these users sometimes prefer to mount the chargers on the wall. Thus the xe2x80x9cdisplay-typexe2x80x9d chargers in the aforementioned patents become cumbersome to use for two reasons: first the inefficiencies of the single pocket design, as noted above; and second due to the fact that wall mounted chargers must be precisely aligned so as to properly read the display.
There is thus a need for an improved charger to accommodate industrial user needs.